Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_400.lzh/6_443.TXT

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Christ, the materials of such churches, being
compared to goodly trees, to willows or' the brook, to
palm-trees, olive4rees, and myrtle-trees, with others,
the branches of wltich were used at the above feast, to
make their tabernacles with; see Lev. xxtii. 40. Neh.
viii. 15. and in the use of them, which was to dwell in
during the time of!he said feast; as the churches of
Christ are the tabernacles of the most High, the dwell-
lag-places of Father, Son, and Spirit; and the habi-
tation of the saints, where they dwell and enjoy great
plenty and prosperity, tranquillily and security; and
here it particularly denotes that joy, peace, and
the converted Jews shall partake of tn the. churches
Christ in the latter day; of which the feast of taber-
nacles was but a shadow, and which was at!ended
with much rejoicing, ptenty of provisions, and great
safety.
Vet. 10. I have also spoke. to the prophets, &c.] Or, I
will speak {b}; for this respects not the Lord's speaking
by the prophets of the Old Testament. who spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost; though all they
said were for the use of, and profitable unto, Christ;an
churches; but his speaking by the apostles, prophets,
and teachers, under the Gospel dispensation; by whom
the doctrines of grace have been more clearly dispensed,
and which are no other than the voice of Christ speak-
ing in them; and which it is both a privilege to hear,
and a duty to attend unto; see Ephes. iv. l1: and !
have multiplied visions: or, will multipl!/ visions {} ; more
than under the former dispensation, as was foretold by
Joe], ii. 28. see Acts ii. 16, 17. witness the visions of
the Apostles Peter, Paul, John, and others: or this
may respect the more clear sight and knowledge of
Gospel truths in the times of the Messiah, then under
the Mosaic economy; see 2 Cor. iii. 13---d8: and used
similitudes by the ministry of the prophets: or, will use
similitadesa; for this is to be understood, not of the
types and figures used by the Lord under the legal
dispensation, to represent spiritual things, as the brasen
serpent, passover-lamb, manna, and the sacrifices of'
the law; nor of the similitudes used by the }!ro[,,het
Hosea, taking a wife and children of whoredores, to
set forth the case and condition of Israel, and of the
coinpar;sons he makes of God, to a lion, leopard, bear,
4'c.; or by any other of the former prophets; but of
parables and similitudes used in Gospel times; not only
such as Christ used himself, who seldom spoke without
a parable; see Matt. xiii. 11. but which he used by the
ministry of his apostles and propttets, and which are
to be met with in their discourses and writings; see
1 Cor. iii. 6--12. and especially such seem to be meant
that respect the conversion of the Jews, and the glory
of the church in the latter day, Rom. xi. 16--.o6. Rev.
xxi. -t 12--c23.
Vet. 11. Is there iniquity in Gilead? &c.] Idolatry
there? strange that there should be, seeing it was a
city of the priests; a city of refuge; or there is none
there, s,,y the priests, who prttettded they ,lid not
worship idols, but the true Jehovah in them: or,
there not iniquity or idolatry in Gilead {} ? verily there.
is, let them pretend to what they will: or, is there
only iniquity in it f? that the men or' it shoukt be carried
captive, as they were by Tiglath-pileser, before the
rest of the tribes; see 2 Kings xv. 29. no, there is ini-
quity and idolatry committed in otnei- places, as wel
there, who must expect to share the sa,ne fate in tsnie:
or, is Gilead Aven {g}? that is, Beth-aven, the same
with Beth-el; it is as that, as guilty ofidoiatry as Beth-
el, where one of the calves was set up: surely they are
vanity: the inhabitants of Gilead, as well as of Beth-el,
worshipping idols, which are most vain things, vanity
itself, and deceive those that serve them, and trust m
them: they sacrifice bulloc/cs in Gilgal: to idols, as
the Targum at/ds; and so Jarchi and Kimchi; ac-
cordin. g to Aben Ezra, they sacriticed thrum to Baal;
this shews that Gilead was not the only place for ido-
latry, which was on the other side Jordan, but Gi!.pT, al,
which was on this side Jordan, was also polluted with
it. The Vulgate I.atin version is, "in Gilgal they were
"sacrificing to bullocks ;" to the calves !her,., the same
as were at Dan and Beth-el; so, in the Septuagiut
version of 1 Kings xii. 29, it was tbrmerly read: and
so Cyrilh quotes it, he (Jeroboam) set the one (calf)
Gilgal, and the other in Dan; hene the fable that
.piphanius {i} makes mention of, that, when Elisha was
born, the golden ox or heiter at Gilgal bellowed very
loudly, and so 1oud as to be heard at Jerusalem. The
Targum makes mention of an idol-temple here; and
as it was near to Beth-el, as appears fi'otn 1 Sam. x.
3, 8. and from Josephus {k}; and so Jerom says {}, hard
by Beth-el; some suspect another Gilgai; hence it
might be put 'for it; ltowever, it was a place of' like
idolatrous worship; it is mentioned as such along with
Beth-area or Beth-el, in oh. iv. 15. see also ch. ix. 15:
yea, their altars are as heaps in, the furrows of the ficlds ;
not only in the city of Gilgal, and in the temple there,
as the Targum; but even without the city, in the
fields they set up altars, which looked like heaps of
stones; or they had a multitude of altars that stood as
thick as they. So the Targum," they have multi-
" plied their altars, like heaps upon the borders of
"the fields ;" and the Jewish commentators in general
understaud this as expressive of the nnmber of their
altars, and of the increase of idolatrous worship; but
some interpret it of the destruction of' their altars,
which should become heaps of stones and rubbish,
like such as are in fields. These words respect Ephraim
or the ten tribes, in which these places were, whose
idolatry is again taken notice of, after gracious pro-
mists were made to Judah. Some begin here a new
sermon or discourse delivered to Israel.
Vet. 12. And Jacob.fled into the cou,ttry of S.!!ria, &c.]
Or, field ofSyria {m}; the s. ame with Padan-aram; for
Padan, in the Arabic language, as Bochart has shewn,

{b} \^ytrbdw\^ "& Ioquar", Piscator, Liveleus, Drusius, Cocceius, Schmidt.
{c} \^ytybrh Nwzx\^ "visionem multiplicabo", Vatablus, Liveleus, Drusius,
Schmidt.
{d} \^hmda\^ "assimilabo", Montanus, Schmidt; "similitudinibus utar", Cas-
talio, Liveleus.
{e} \^Nwa delg Ma\^ "an non in Galaaad iniquitas?" Vatablus.
{f} "En in Gileade tantum iniquitas?" Piscator.
{g} "Num Gilead Aven?" Schmidt.
{h} Apud Reland. Palestina Illustrata, tom. 2. I. 3. p. 783.
{i} De Vita & lnteritu Prophet. c. 6. & Paschal. Chronic. p. 161,
apud Reland. ib.
{k} Antiqu. I. 6. c. 4. sect. 2.
{l} De locis Hebr. fol. 91. M.
{m} \^Mra hdv\^ "agrum Aram", Montanus; "in agrum Syriae", Vatablus,
Drusius, Rivet, Schmidt.